Is Masataka Yoshida The Real Deal? ESPN's Eduardo Perez Thinks So
Masataka Yoshida had the opportunity during the World Baseball Classic to show not only Red Sox Nation but the whole world, what he could do on a global stage and against competitive pitching. Boy, he answered the call.
Yoshida not only showcased his strong plate discipline by only striking out once and walking four times, which most expected but also showed off multiple other aspects of his game. The Japanese native was an RBI machine for his native country and broke a record by driving in 13 runs for Team Japan. Three of those runs came from his 3-run game-tying home run versus Mexico in the WBC Semi-Finals.
Outside of the offensive production Yoshida showed off in the WBC, he also showed that he has the ability to play a quality left field. This aspect of his game is one that many scouts questioned when Yoshida first signed in Boston. The 5-8, 176lb outfielder showed off his range, ability to be reliable in the outfield, and also his bullet of an arm when he threw out a runner at the plate.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was very pleased with Yoshida’s performance in the World Baseball Classic but mentioned another aspect of his game he noticed that can’t be calculated in the statistics, his swagger. “Style, man. He’s got swag,” Cora said, “Everybody’s pretty sure he’s going to hit at this level.”
Cora has praised Yoshida with flying colors since he put on the Red Sox threads, but it says something when his teammate Trevor Story was impressed, “You could tell that he’s not scared to hit with two strikes, and to shoot the ball the other way is a big weapon of his, Story said, “That gets me excited for what he can do at Fenway.”
It’s all nice and dandy that two people from the Red Sox organization had high praise for Yoshida’s output in the WBC, but that’s something you’d expect. It’s really telling when a national reporter and former player such as ESPN’s Eduardo Perez brings him up in an answer to a question that wasn’t even about Yoshida or the Red Sox. Perez said on the Locked On Red Sox podcast, “Yoshida, in person, I’m pretty darn impressed. Really impressed with the way he can recognize and slow everything down, even with the timer. I was really impressed with his ability to get to the ball.”
Even with Yoshida’s unreal WBC production, he still has to prove that he can perform at that level in the Major Leagues and live up to the $90 million contract he signed this past offseason. This was the best way he could’ve begun his 2023 campaign.
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